Employee relations and communications

Thriving organizations recognize the importance of harnessing people’s ideas and energy to provide a competitive edge, while managers are eager to gain, retain, and build employee commitment and engagement.

How it works

Employee relations and communications are, either managed by human resources (HR) or as a function in their own right, are increasingly sophisticated. Rather than just relying on face-to-face talks and word of mouth, successful firms use added communication tools to help people understand the business goals and the individual’s contribution to results. In particular,leaders no longer send only one-way messages but harness a variety of interactive media, such as videoand tele-conferencing. Individuals and teams can use customized business social media, such as Yammer, to share ideas and knowledge, but may still choose to meet in formal settings such as councils and forums.

Communication in practice

In many countries, employee communications used to focus on structured industrial relations, managed by HR. Employee relations are now based more on trust and building strong relationships. Many firms create formal works councils or employee forums. At their best, employee forums:

• ❯ Allow representatives from across the business to share and generate ideas for improving performance.❯ Encourage discussions on vision, changes, and plans for business.
• ❯ Recognize the value of employees.

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CASE STUDY

John Lewis The UK-based John Lewis chain of department stores is famous for its unique employee-owned structure, in which every worker is a partner in the business. It has a number of employee communication policies.

❯ Gazette Employees can send letters directly to management through the weekly gazette. Managers publish their responses in the gazette for all to read.

❯ Partnership council Made up of 80 elected partners from across the business, the council meets four times a year. The chairman and directors report to the council, which can remove the chairman.

❯ Branch forums Elected by employees at each branch, these forums work with management to influence the running of their store and select local charities to support

$316 million
the amount paid in staff bonuses by John Lewis in 2013